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John Casey
Colonel John Casey (birth name Alexander "Alex" Coburn) is a major character on the action-comedy television series ''Chuck'' on NBC. He is portrayed by Adam Baldwin. Casey is partnered with CIA Agent Sarah Walker to protect Chuck Bartowski when the latter had accidentally downloaded the Intersect. As of "Chuck Versus the Colonel" in Season Two, Major John Casey is promoted to the rank of Colonel. Casey is a member of the joint ops team known as Team Bartowski. In episode , Casey stole a top secret pill, called Laudanol, that is used to eliminate emotions which he took from a CIA facility. This was because his former commander who now works for the Ring threatened to kill his ex-fiance (she believes Casey is dead; as he officially died in 1989 - See: Chuck Timeline) unless he brought him the pill. However, Chuck spotted Casey stealing it and reported it to General Beckman; believing it to be a test as to whether he would betray Casey or his country. Beckman accused Casey of treason, but in light of his previous record, simply forced Casey into retirement. Fortunately, however in , Casey is able to reenter the NSA and gains his rank as colonel again, having captured the Ring Director as he used him as a bargaining tool. He was also granted a new Ford Crown Victoria. In Season Four, Casey's NSA superior General Diane Beckman, considers him to be one of her best agents. Biography Alex Coburn In episode , one of the men that Chuck and Casey were meeting, in order to obtain the name of the person the Ring wanted dead, thought that he recognized Casey from somewhere and said that he looked like a "hot shot sniper that he had served with" called Alex Coburn. The intersect recognized the name and Chuck flashed. Later on when they were back at Castle, Chuck questioned Casey on who Alex Coburn is, but Casey told him it was none of his business. It is revealed in , that Casey used to be called Alex Coburn. In 1989, Alex Coburn is being reviewed by a ranking officer regarding his application to special forces training while in Honduras. The application is not accepted but he is then approached by Colonel James Keller who asks him if he wants to join his NSA black ops team of the most elite soldiers and snipers, which Coburn accepts. Keller allows Coburn to make a final phone call to his fiancée. She is about to tell him that she's pregnant when Keller abruptly ends the call before Casey can receive this news and Alex Coburn is officially "killed" in action in Honduras and becomes John Casey. John Casey Virtually nothing has been revealed about John Casey's past or his family except his mother whom he called on Christmas. All that is known about is age is that he was 23 years old when he started training with his mentor, Ty Bennett. He was a choirboy and has perfect pitch."Chuck vs. the Fat Lady" Although Casey has flown the B-2 Spirit bomber"Chuck vs. the Helicopter" and expressed a clear interest in American military aviation technology,"Chuck vs. the Cougars" he holds the rank of Colonel in the United States Marine Corps (In Episode 2 of Season 3, he states that he is a Marine before head-butting an assassin).Spy Dossiers, nbc.com/chuck Casey is one of only five people in the world who can hit a target from a half a mile away. At what point he was recruited into the NSA is currently unknown. Casey was mentored by Ty Bennett, who taught him hand-to-hand combat techniques and attempted to help Casey, who already possessed a short temper, find a "calm center"."Chuck vs. the Sensei" He also attended Roan Montgomery's course on Infiltration and Inducement of Enemy Personnel ("Seduction School") and failed it twice – although it was revealed that Montgomery failed him because Casey's partner was "too pretty," with Montgomery also musing that he should have failed Casey a few more times on account of his attractive partner."Chuck vs. the Seduction" Casey suffered a devastating personal tragedy while stationed undercover in Chechnya. He was involved with an Associated Press photographer named Ilsa Trinchina who was apparently killed in a bomb blast near the hotel where they were staying."Chuck vs. the Undercover Lover" The incident left him deeply traumatized, with cameras apparently causing flashbacks to the tragedy. It was later revealed that Ilsa was a French spy who had faked her own death. Ilsa reappeared in "Chuck vs. the Undercover Lover" as the undercover fiance of a Russian crime boss. Casey also had a final tryst with Ilsa after capturing the Russian crime boss before she departed for further espionage missions. He has had previous dealings with CIA agents Bryce Larkin and Sarah Walker, and has been intimately involved in some capacity with Sarah's DEA friend Carina as well."Chuck vs. the Wookie Casey is seen as a staunch Republican. He is a supporter of Ronald Reagan, he is pro gun rights. According to an otherwise unmarked business card he gives Chuck in "Chuck vs. the Ring," Casey's personal private phone number is 323-555-0173. ("323" is actually a major west/central Los Angeles area code, but "555" of course is the fictional phone number prefix reserved for fictional uses, films and television—but nowhere else.) Casey's apartment number/street address at the complex he shares with Chuck and family is 1836 (street unknown). According to his ID card which Chuck once flashed on, Casey's NSA ID number is 5498-5684. Series Casey was on-hand when Bryce Larkin stole the Intersect computer, and participated in the pursuit to apprehend him. He apparently fatally shot Bryce during his escape attempt, but not before Larkin was able to successfully send the contents of the Intersect to his old college roommate, Chuck Bartowski."Chuck vs. the Intersect" After CIA agent Sarah Walker failed her initial attempt to recover the Intersect when Chuck's computer – on which the e-mail Bryce sent was stored – was accidentally destroyed, the NSA Director (Wendy Makkena) dispatched Casey with a team to clean up the operation. He was to determine what Chuck knew and who he worked for, and eliminate him. After Sarah proved Chuck was not a threat and contained the Intersect secrets in his brain, Casey was assigned to protect him. As part of his cover Casey was given a job at the Buy More where he worked as a "Green Shirt." Despite poor customer service skills, Casey is nonetheless an effective, if aggressive, salesperson. Although most of his coworkers are afraid of him, they also know to come to him in dangerous situations rather than attempt to resolve them themselves."Chuck vs. the Breakup" He is also ruthless in dealing with shoplifting. Although initially unknown to Chuck, Casey had been secretly monitoring his home with listening devices from his apartment in the same complex. His preferred listening device is the EM-50, which he has placed throughout the apartment Chuck shares with his sister and her live-in boyfriend. When Chuck discovered the bugs after a tipoff from Laszlo Mahnovski and confronted his handler, Casey showed little reaction despite it being one of the first times Chuck had directly stood up to him."Chuck vs. the Sandworm" Chuck later admits to being a fan of Casey's work."Chuck Versus the Marlin" Much of Casey's downtime is spent monitoring Chuck's apartment. Casey was forced to face a painful chapter from his past when Chuck flashed on a list of Russian mobsters staying in Los Angeles, and one of the names pointed directly to "Sugar Bear," a name Chuck realized was a pet name a former lover had for Casey. Chuck innocently teased Casey over it and his temper nearly drove him to strangle Chuck. Sarah then revealed that the woman in the flash was Casey's former lover Ilsa Trinchina, apparently killed by a bomb in Chechnya. Later, Chuck and Casey learned that Ilsa is French spy and had faked her death in the blast. Chuck later convinced him to fight for her. Although they rekindled their relationship, Casey and Ilsa ultimately parted ways after a brief tryst. He met with a very personal betrayal when he discovered his old Sensei, Ty Bennett, had turned rogue and was building a criminal empire with former students, even inviting Casey to join him. The mission to capture Bennett nearly proved fatal to Chuck when Casey allowed the vendetta to distract him. As a result, Beckman ordered Casey to stand down and pulled him off the case to apprehend Bennett, bluntly telling him that he was never told Bennett went rogue because they knew he would go after him. After being confined to Castle, Casey took advantage of Chuck's empathy and compassion to facilitate his escape, then went after Bennett himself. Casey engaged in a duel with Bennett, who taunted him over his lack of focus and calm. Chuck then realized that Casey's anger was his strength, and helped him use it to defeat his mentor. Unknown to Sarah and Chuck, who believe that Chuck will be allowed to return to his civilian life once the Intersect mission is finished, Casey is under orders from Graham and Beckman to execute Chuck to prevent the data from falling into the wrong hands. After recovering the Cypher, a key component of the rebuilt Intersect, the command to terminate Chuck was given. Casey attempted to appeal the decision, but Beckman and Graham believed there was no other choice. However, before Casey could carry out his orders, the sabotaged Cypher exploded, killing Graham and destroying the new Intersect. This turn of events retracted his terminate orders for the foreseeable future."Chuck vs. the First Date" This standing order ostensibly became moot after Chuck's father removed the original Intersect from Chuck's brain."Chuck vs. the Colonel" Despite his long service, including in many dangerous hot spots spanning three wars, Casey had never been shot in the line of duty. However, this changed when Ned Rhyerson, a frightened apparently amateur criminal, took the Buy More hostage while eluding police. When Ned unexpectedly came across Sarah and Casey talking to Chuck in a back room, panic ensued. Chuck managed to talk him down, but while trying to uncock the revolver, the gun went off and struck Casey in the left foot, severing a substantial part of his left pinky toe. Ned Rhyerson turned out to be an operative working for Fulcrum and intentionally shot Casey in order isolate Chuck from his team."Chuck Versus Santa Claus" Unknown to Sarah and Chuck, who believed that Chuck would be allowed to return to his civilian life once the Intersect mission is finished, Casey was under orders to execute Chuck to prevent the data from falling into the wrong hands once Chuck's Intersect became redundant. After recovering the Cipher, a key component of the rebuilt Intersect, the command to terminate Chuck was given. Casey attempted to appeal the decision, but Beckman and Graham believed there was no other choice; Graham specifically asked if Casey could remove the Intersect from Chuck's head and guarantee that Chuck would not be kidnapped and tortured, and Casey admitted he could not. However, before Casey could carry out his orders, the Trojan horse Cipher exploded, killing Graham and destroying the new Intersect. This turn of events retracted his terminate orders since Chuck still is the only copy of the Intersect,and the orders naturally become moot after Chuck's father removes the original Intersect from Chuck's brain. The order appears to remain rescinded following Chuck's decision to implant the Intersect 2.0 into his brain. After failing his spy training, Chuck is dismissed from the CIA, and Casey appears ready to pull out of Burbank without any mention of execution orders. Despite his aforementioned hatred of Premier Allejandro Goya, Casey is forced to save the Premier's life from an attempted assassination by The Ring. As he had the same blood type, his blood was also used to save the premier. Goya was so grateful he acknowledged Casey for his great skills, and gave him a gift of pre-revolution cigars. In Casey showed his remarkable sniper skills by shooting an assassin from over half a mile away, a shot that was earlier said that only five people in the world could have made. In Casey is coerced by his former commander, Col. Keller, who is now a Ring spy, to steal a combat-performance-enhancing pill. Keller threatens to have Casey's ex-fiancée, Kathleen McHugh, killed unless he cooperates. Despite General Beckman's orders to stand down, and facing charges of treason, Casey does everything he can to save Kathleen, eventually getting help from Chuck and Sarah. In the end, Keller is taken down, Kathleen is saved, and instead of going to prison for treason, Beckman gives Casey a "second second chance" and he is dismissed and allowed to re-enter civilian life. Casey found readjusting to life as a civilian difficult, and nearly ended up sued for assault by Jeff and Lester after he caught them goofing off in the store. Big Mike successfully mediated the situation in an effort to "smooth" Casey's jagged edges. He was surprised to learn Chuck had been called in for his "final exam," and later broke the law by killing Chuck's "Red Test" target when Chuck himself hesitated. Casey subsequently warned him not to reveal what happened, as Casey had committed an unsanctioned murder and in the process defrauded the government. In Casey saw Chuck as his opportunity to get back to spy work when he learned Chuck was authorized by Beckman to choose his own team. After Chuck announced his intentions to win Sarah back first before making any other decisions, Casey agreed to join forces with Morgan and Devon to help. Unfortunately their efforts weren't entirely successful and ended up with the three of them in jail for the night. Later, Casey helped Sarah escape Castle when Chuck locked her in while he went to rescue Shaw. After the mission, with Sarah packing to meet Chuck at the train station, Casey met her at her apartment and admitted that he killed Perry, and wished her a good life. Casey was reinstated by General Beckman following the events of after he apprehended The Director of the Ring while Chuck stopped the now-rogue Shaw and rescued Sarah. Recognizing the part he played in the operation, Casey also vouched for Morgan with Beckman and arranged for him to be officially added to Team Bartowski. When Chuck and Sarah went AWOL yet again while in Paris in the episode Beckman ordered Casey to track the two with Morgan's assistance. Although initially reluctant to accept Morgan's help, he was eventually forced to acknowledge that Morgan was more useful than he first considered. After tracking down his missing partners and helping them apprehend a defecting Basque terrorist, Casey decided to let the two run away to leave the spy life. The mission nearly ended disastrously when two Interpol agents came to take the prisoner into custody were revealed to be members of the terrorist ETA, but he and Morgan were rescued by Chuck and Sarah. After the mission, Casey personally vouched to General Beckman for Morgan's role in locating Chuck and Sarah and his decisive actions in securing the Basque prisoner. In Casey is unwittingly involved in a Ring plot to seize Stephen Bartowski, when a Ring operative named Justin Sullivan, Ellie met in Africa identifies him as a double-agent attempting to get his hands on her father. She becomes convinced when she sees his cache of weapons. In , Casey is told by Chuck to keep and eye on Ellie and he tails her. However, when he found her attempting to meet with her Ring contact, Casey presumed that she was having an affair and told Morgan to question Devon. Casey later attempted to plant bugs around Ellie's apartment, thinking that she would not be home for a while. When she did arrive back and heard him upstairs, Justin told her to use the gun inside set of speakers he gave her to deal with Casey. Ellie couldn't bring herself to do it and instead whacked Casey with a frying pan before running to Justin, who secretly holds her captive. It is revealed in "Chuck Versus the Subway" that he has re-established contact with his daughter, Alex, and is a regular visitor to the diner in which she works although she is unaware of his identity. When Justin captures Casey at the restaurant, Casey escapes, "kidnapping" Alex, later revealing his identity as her father. At the end of "Chuck Versus the Ring: Part II", Alex comes to dinner at Chuck's apartment with Morgan, to whom she gave her number, Casey, and the rest of the growing Team Bartowski. Casey has shown to be very protective of his daughter. He threatened to break Morgan's fingers (his thumbs were already broken) if Morgan didn't stop flirting with Alex. It was revealed in that when he was a Captain he lead a Special Ops Team under President Clinton's orders to seal a large cache of gold. Forced to subdue his own team to prevent the theft of the gold, he sealed the cache. Chuck asked him to fake his death in order to lure out his old teammates and succeeded. However the Agents failed to arrest Casey's former team and they succeeded in abducting Casey. During the funeral it was revealed that the only men to attend his funeral were the agents assigned for the operation and men who wanted him dead. After being drugged and rescued Morgan was forced to awaken him by telling him he was seeing Alex. After convincing Alex to get back together with Grimes he threatened Morgan "If you break her heart, I break your everything." It is revealed in a later episode that Casey also has another daughter named Kim Lee whose mother, Kate Lee, he meet on a mission in Athens. Development Adam Baldwin was cast in the role of John Casey, announced on February 8, 2007.Casting Update: February 8, 2007, [http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/02/08/is-shane-west-leaving-er/ TV Squad] Schwartz had Baldwin in mind for the role almost from the beginning of the casting process. Although the character of Casey has received relatively little attention, Schwartz indicated in interviews that "Chuck vs. the Undercover Lover" established a lot of what made Casey, Casey. He received further development in "Chuck Versus the Sensei," when it's revealed that his former mentor had turned rogue. Much of Casey's personality and background is revealed through small details that surface in episodes, often used to humorous effect. Branch of Service Casey's branch of service in the series falls under the United States Marine Corps, though his specific MOS in the Marines is a matter of confusion. Most likely, he is an Intelligence Officer that is working side-by-side with the NSA, especially since as a former Black Ops operator he would have worked for the CIA, not the NSA. In "Chuck vs. the Helicopter" he tells Chuck he once flew the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. His special forces team in "Chuck vs. the Ring" included members of the United States Marine Corps, which implies that they were either operators in the Force Reconnaissance Marines. Casey in Episode 2 of Season 3, before head-butting an enemy assassin, stated that he was lucky to be a Marine. Also, in the special Valentines Episode in Season 2, Casey is seen watching a documentary on a U.S. Marine Corps mission led back in the 1960's. Rank In addition to confusion over his branch of service, the series is also ambiguous over the rank Casey was promoted to in "Chuck vs. the Undercover Lover." Throughout the episode, he is referred to as "Colonel Casey." Although normal rank progression from major is to Lt. colonel, the episode never establishes whether he was promoted to this rank or full colonel, as both ranks are frequently addressed as "colonel" in casual usage. Personality John Casey was described by Sarah in "Chuck vs. the Intersect" as a "burnout," although the exact meaning of this was never explained. Chuck describes him as having an "angry center," as opposed to the traditional "calm center". When trying to unwind at the end of a hard day he listens to Neil Diamond. He is gruff, straight-forward, cynical, and hard-edged, and tends to keep everyone at an emotional distance. He is often sarcastic and ironic, and rarely shows signs of caring for anything other than his job and country (and his bonsai tree). On occasion, however, Casey does allow part of his human side through. This was most clearly revealed when confronted by his former lover, Ilsa, and later by the revelation that his mentor had turned rogue. He also vouched for Sarah's father and suggested his assistance in helping them apprehend a Saudi sheik with terrorist ties should be considered when Jack Burton was to be brought to trial for his own illegal activities."Chuck vs. the Delorean" Although he disagreed with Sarah's feelings for Chuck in "Chuck Versus the Crown Vic," he later attempted to defend her in front of Beckman when Sarah was to be replaced by CIA agent Alexandra Forrest, insisting that Beckman allow Chuck to state his own case as to why he worked well with Sarah. Casey's relationship with Chuck is complicated. A running gag is that Chuck (always unintentionally) will typically cause Casey distress, embarrassment or physical harm at some point during an episode (such as the destruction of Casey's prized Crown Vic). Typically, Casey is hard on and insulting to Chuck; he shows frustration with Chuck's constant mistakes, inability to perform tasks for which he is not trained, and constantly failing to follow orders. However, although he seldom expresses it openly, he seems to recognize that Chuck is doing the best he can as a civilian forced to act as a spy with little or no training. He does at times show appreciation for him and recognizes that he has potential as an agent. He has expressed respect for Chuck's integrity, intelligence, and inventiveness. He showed particular respect for Chuck's courage in deciding to use the only sample of an antidote in their possession to save his sister's life, even though he had been poisoned and would die without it."Chuck Versus the Truth" Casey has a deep sense of personal honour; when it appeared that the replacement Intersect was ready, despite the antagonism he often expressed toward Chuck, he did not want to terminate him and felt that Chuck's service to the government entitled him to a better fate than termination. However he is also loyal to his government and was prepared to carry out his instructions regardless. Casey is a staunch gun rights advocate. He keeps a photo of former President Ronald Reagan in his apartment which he has a habit of saluting and addressing directly as "Sir" so is likely a Republican and has a "Rogues Gallery" he uses for target practice. His two prized possessions are his 1985 Ford Crown Victoria|Crown Vic and his Bonsai tree, though he deliberately killed the tree in a fit of rage when he learned his former mentor had turned rogue. He also purchased himself a new gun for Christmas. Casey is also fond of quiche, a dish which he takes very seriously. "Chuck Versus the First Kill" humorously suggested Casey is not as intelligent as the other team members when he tried to cheat off Chuck's Fulcrum entrance exam; however, he is an excellent shot and a trained killer. Casey is also a skilled martial artist, which is demonstrated when he fights his old sensei in "Chuck vs. the Sensei," although Casey was forced to retreat when he fought Sarah in "Chuck Versus the Helicopter." He has demonstrated a remarkable tolerance to pain and extreme endurance. He broke his own thumb to escape a set of handcuffs in "Chuck Versus the Suburbs," was able to remain awake and function relatively normally after being shot with a tranquilizer dart in "Chuck Versus the Helicopter," and it took Chuck three tranq darts to put Casey down in "Chuck vs. the Dream Job." Casey is also exceptionally strong. When Carina cuffed him to a bed in "Chuck vs. the Wookiee" he managed to free himself by tearing apart the frame with minimal leverage and no assistance, and ripped an entire radiator from the wall of a motel room in "Chuck Versus the Colonel." He can turn almost anything into a weapon, including the aforementioned bed frame and radiator, as well as household appliances."Chuck Versus the Tango" Casey carries a custom SIG Sauer P229 equipped with Crimson Trace laser grips and mounts for a suppressor throughout the series. Despite his own nature and preference for conventional spy tactics, Casey has realized that Operation Bartowski is most effective with Sarah Walker. While he admired Agent Forrest's thinking, he also realized she was a greater liability on the team than Sarah, despite her feelings for Chuck. In a rare display of emotion he told Agent Forrest that Sarah was the best partner he ever had, and strongly disagreed with her assessment of her as a liability to the operation. He encouraged Chuck to tell General Beckman why Sarah should remain on the team. A significant amount of humour in the series centers around Casey's demeanor and random moments that are completely incongruous with his tough image, such as unexpectedly singing a note to which a puzzle is keyed and revealing having been a choir boy with perfect pitch, and dancing to Hanson's "MMMBop" while undercover as a DJ at Sarah's high school reunion. One of Casey's favorite movies is Steel Magnolias.Employee Profiles: [http://www.insidebuymore.com/casey John Casey at insidebuymore.com] He frequently responds to situations with monosyllabic grunts, which Chuck can recognize and has even numbered,"Chuck vs. the Crown Vic" and often tosses off one-liners reminiscent of cliche action films. While working at the Buy More in the days leading up to Christmas, 2008, Casey had been assigned to man the gift-wrap counter and was so distraught over the resulting paper cuts he had band-aids on all his fingers. Casey appears to be a good salesman while at Buy More. During Chuck versus the Sizzling Shrimp while there was a sales contest at Buy More, it is seen that Casey was 2nd in sales at the store, second only to Harry Tang. Casey holds strong patriotic beliefs and feels very strongly about his duty to his country. He believes Chuck has served his country honorably, and at the end of "Chuck Versus the Colonel," he lies to General Beckman about the events leading up the AWOL mission that Chuck and Sarah embarked upon to rescue Chuck's father, sparing Sarah from imprisonment and Chuck from lifelong confinement. Casey has also shown to be a very protective father. During the Ring's government take over, his first priority was to save his daughter Alex, even though she did not know he was her father at the time. His protectiveness of his daughter continues into season 4, as he is unwilling to allow Morgan to date her. He later gives Morgan his permission to date her after he nearly dies saving Chuck, Sarah, and himself. Although he gave Morgan his permission to date his daughter, he strongly warned him, "you break her heart, I break your everything." External Links * Casey facts on NBC Chuck References Category:Characters Category:Main Characters